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For nearly a century, 7-Eleven has demonstrated time and again that it has an uncanny ability to satisfy customers’ desire for convenience.
The 20th century saw an unprecedented change in daily life, with the growth of the middle class and expansion of the suburbs. For families, this meant a new emphasis was placed on convenience, and 7-Eleven pioneered what quick access could be.
What began as a neighborly favor to help customers in a bind turned into a multinational business, pioneering a new way of shopping. Dallasites were the first to experience the late hours and wide variety of goods offered at early 7-Eleven stores.
The early days
The chain was originally known as the Southland Ice Co. The company had stations all around Dallas. Uncle Johnny Green, who operated one of these ice houses, had an idea born of neighborly kindness that would change the face of shopping for generations to come. In 1927, Green began selling eggs, milk and dairy alongside the ice at the open-front store.
The idea quickly took off at other Southland stores. When an Alaskan souvenir appeared in front of stores, they were renamed “Tote’m stores.”
Before long, “the company extended the practice to others of its ice stations, then expanded the list of items to more than 3,000 — plethora.”
As families across the Metroplex became more automobile-oriented, 7-Eleven delivered its revolutionary park-at-the-door store.
It’s 1952, what would you find on the shelves at 7-Eleven?
- Blue Plate jellies and preserves
- Foster’s eggs
- 1869 Coffee
- Oak Farms dairy products
- Morton’s potato chips
- Holsum bread
- Dr Pepper
- 7-Eleven’s broiler burgers
- Fresh vegetables on a bed of ice
‘Oh, thank heaven’
From radio to print, 7-Eleven had a remarkable set of memorable ads.
“Where does the supermarket manager go when he wants a loaf of bread?”
“Shop four times faster at 7-Eleven.”
“Strange things happen to people who shop at 7-Eleven.”
But one stood above the rest: “Oh, thank heaven for 7-Eleven!”
Southland Corp. underwent a major expansion to gather a variety of products under a single roof — including purchasing Oak Farms dairy and Cabell’s in its first few decades of operation.
What did this mean for customers? It meant the growth of high-quality food items at a convenience store. Advertisements from before the 1970s illustrate how 7-Eleven’s wares could solve shoppers’ problems.
Innovative offerings
There is arguably a plethora of products that made 7-Eleven the iconic store it is today. The first on the list? Ice, for those who remember. The second? Oak Farms dairy, which once boasted its own baseball team during the 1930s. 7-Eleven served as a convenient proxy to the milkman for households in a pinch.
The Dallas-based stores began to see a shift toward specialty items. In 1965, 7-Eleven offered its first to-go coffee. Its most iconic item — the Slurpee — debuted the following year.“
“Strange things happen to those who slurp,” was an ad campaign that launched around this time, leading to catchy tunes such as “Dance the Slurp” for customers with brain freeze.
Other lesser-known products made short-lived debuts on shelves around this time. In 1968, Southland Corp. developed its own line of soft drinks. The carbonated beverage made brief headlines when it was used as a creative weapon during a fight in 1970.
Convenience even extended to shotgun shells, which were available at stores during the 1970s.
Later that decade, another famous 7-Eleven product hit stores for the first time — the Big Gulp. Super-sized sodas are commonplace today, but at the time of its debut, it had never been seen.
A new generation
7-Eleven’s strive for convenience first emerged as a neighborhood act of kindness at an ice station. For decades, the company became a mini-market leader offering a variety of fresh products before pivoting to international expansion.
Currently, the store is leading the way in upgrading customer experience with the Evolution Store, which features handmade tortillas, a taco bar, margaritas on tap and more to cater to a new generation.
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